The Marin County businessman charged with attempted murder for allegedly trying to throw his wife off the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge after first crashing their car into a guard rail pleaded not guilty Friday through his attorney.

Xavier Jarrell McClinton’s reported attempt on his wife’s life Dec. 13 came after weeks of paranoid and uncharacteristic behavior on his behalf, according to prosecutors.

The 47-year-old personal trainer and fitness business owner, known in the Marin fitness community by the moniker “X,” had been acting normally up until a few weeks ago when he began thinking people were trying to break into his house to harm himself and the couple’s children, according to the District Attorneys’ Office.

The behavior culminated in an odd mid-day incident that snarled commute traffic, left his wife of eight years with a severe gash on her cheek and ended with his plunge into the Bay and arrest.

McClinton appeared in court shortly after his arrest but has been absent the next two hearings. On Friday, his attorney entered the pleas on his behalf.

That afternoon, the couple reportedly drove through San Francisco, down the Peninsula and east onto the bridge. The couple reportedly argued and prosecutors say McClinton tried driving the vehicle off the side but ended up crashing about 2:25 p.m.

He then allegedly pulled his wife from the vehicle and tried to go over the bridge side with her until passersby grabbed her legs and held her dangling as he fell. Rescue crews pulled him from the water and arrested him.

All bridge lanes reopened shortly after 4 p.m. but traffic remained snarled for hours.